Phoenix Rising
by Spoodlexiii
Summary: Set post-AJ. Miles just wants to return to a semi-normal life. Alas, cruel fate has it in for Miles, and the only ace up his sleeve he gets to have is his partner, Phoenix Wright.
1. Omen

A/N; Alrighty, kids. I'll be honest straight. I don't have any idea where this'll go. I have the beginnings of ideas, but before the initial two chapters I've got pre-written...who knows. I'll be honest, too, in saying that right now, my time is sort of limited, but I'm stressed out as all hell, so I'll probably turn to this for solace. This being said, this fic won't be the best thing I've ever written. xD It happens. R and R, and stuff, and enjoy. :3 I'm not sure if this will eventually tie into ME; AAI. I think certain parts will, but don't take my word for it yet.

* * *

Stepping out of the shower and rubbing at his hair, a certain Prosecutor wandered through the hallway of his apartment. The place was dark, as it was fairly late in the evening, and while Miles Edgeworth was not a fan of sleeping with remotely damp hair, the lack of time he had in the mornings of late just proved that showering then was too difficult. As he wandered through his flat, though, he paused outside of his study, noting a light was on. Briefly, a throb of agitation consumed him, and the idea of opening the door fully and throwing his wet towel onto his house guest almost seemed too good to ignore. Being the mannered man that he was, though, Miles settled with opening the door quietly and slowly and leaning against the frame, arms crossed over his bare chest.

The unshaven, beanie-wearing man leaned back in the desk-chair he was in, and he grinned upside-down at Miles, waving with a hand and holding a phone to his ear with the other. Spinning the chair with him, he faced the partially undressed man, and Miles rolled his eyes.

"Is that so?" Phoenix Wright continued, eyes glued on the other's chest, not seeming to be at all bothered that his call had been stepped in on. Miles, rolling his eyes in annoyance, kept his arms crossed and didn't otherwise care the other was staring. Phoenix made faces while he listened absently, before he pulled his beanie off and scratched at the horrid mess his dark hair had become. Miles rather missed his stupid spikes. It was hard to believe, but imagining the name 'Wright' brought pictures of spikes and the color blue and the other's blazingly intense eyes to mind, not an unshaven hobo. Upon his return to America, Phoenix instantly asked for his place to crash in, to give Apollo and Trucy space at the old office. Miles hadn't taken a lot of convincing, and from there, their old relationship resumed where it had left off before Miles had departed.

That is to say, they were the strangest of bedfellows in the most literal context possible, but somehow, the Phoenix that sat before Miles now seemed just as attractive, intelligent, and brilliantly stupid as the younger man Miles had re-encountered in court one fateful day. Phoenix was Miles' idiot savant, and no other's. Not even time had effectively stepped on their relationship.

"Really now?" Phoenix drawled, obviously more absorbed in watching his lover. Miles tapped an imaginary watch on his wrist, and then gave the other an annoyed raise of the eyebrow. Phoenix pressed a finger to his lip despite the lack of sound, and moved himself back and forth in the office chair, listening to what he was being told. "I see. Well, that's very helpful. Thank you. Yeah, alright, I'll see you tomorrow, then." Hanging up, he let out a melodramatic, heavy sigh. "I'm just wanted so damn badly all the time, it's so hard."

Miles snorted. "All the time? That's a mighty strong delusion you have there, Wright." Miles gave Phoenix time to pout and huff before continuing, "I think I've told you to stay out of my study? Or did you just ignore me, as you do when I remind you that the floor isn't a hamper?"

"Aw, Miles, you're so mean," Phoenix light-heartedly blew off. "I had an important call, and if it's in the house, it's a hamper. It's how I've lived the last forever."

"The last forever? You can't even remember the last time you picked up after yourself?"

Phoenix chuckled, but sounded tired. Miles rolled his eyes and stepped aside, allowing Phoenix to stand and depart from the room. Unable to pass Miles without pinching the other's nipple, he laughed as the other turned bright red and hurriedly re-covered his chest with his arms, before he took the towel hanging off of his arm and covered Phoenix's head. "Haven't I told you to keep your hands to yourself? My God, you're such a child still."

A muffled, "That makes one of us!" came out of the former-attorney as he squirmed, before he just attached to Miles' figure and snickered. "I remember you being taller. And skinnier." Miles bopped the other on the head, annoyed.

"Yeah, and I remember you with a little bit more meat on your bones."

"I remember you not wearing glasses to read--I win, hands down, no comebacks!"

Miles hadn't known they were playing a game, but then again, it was the perfect testimony to his previous comment relating Phoenix to being a child. Allowing the towel to fall back over the other's head, he let Miles blink those amazingly blue eyes up at him, and Miles allowed a faint smile to curve his lips. Phoenix smirked in response, arms running around the other's waist and holding Miles' close. Miles granted the other a brief peck, before he swatted the other's rear and shoved him out of the study doorway.

"Bed. Now."

"Fine, mom, jeez," Phoenix whined, limping his way into the room over. Miles shut the study behind him, followed Phoenix to bed, and was about to drift into the pleasant land of sleep when he realized he was being disturbed quite a bit. Actually, it was because the other was moving around. Phoenix was tossing and turning, grunting and mumbling soft apologies for fidgeting.

_Is it that hard for a bum like you to sleep on a comfy bed? After years of sleeping on a damned couch?_

Miles pushed himself up with an arm, blearily looking through the dark at the other. Phoenix rolled to look at him, storm-cloud eyes looking up, before Phoenix smiled sheepishly. "Um, sorry."

"'Um sorry'?" Miles mocked in a tired, snide voice. "Go sleep on the couch. Unlike you, I have a busy day tomorrow."

"Hey, no, listen," Phoenix said, sitting up, letting the blankets crumple about his waist. The messy-haired, unshaven man watched Miles a second before he continued, "Something's…Aren't you getting that vibe? You remember what it's like to end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, all the time, right? Like, what used to happen to me? I…" In distress, the man got out of bed, but Miles was too tired to really care. He let Phoenix get up, and as soon as the other had shuffled out of the room, Miles fell fast asleep.

---

Miles awoke the next morning slowly and gently. As he pushed himself up and listened to his bones crack and pop, he looked to the curled figure on the other side of the bed. Memory of the other's distress seemed to have faded, and so Miles simply thought to pull the blankets up and over the other's shoulders a bit before sliding out of the bed and beginning to put together his outfit. It was only as he was finishing the touches on his outfit did Phoenix stir and roll about for a bit, and then peek at Miles from under the blankets at the foot of the bed.

"Miles," he mumbled sleepily, yawning. "Good day at work…all that stuff…Sleepy time still…" And the man sprawled over the edge, hanging and snoring.

Miles stared back at the man before he smiled a touch affectionately. There was always something about the other that made his chest feel warm. Somehow, the other's good heart had remained good, even now after he had lost his beloved badge and former occupation. It'd been good since they were children. It was a quality Miles grew up seeking and only found again once he had found Phoenix again.

Miles rolled the other back onto the bed, but when the other was less than helpful, Miles left him dangling and moved to go prepare his briefcase for work. He, unlike Phoenix, was still an attorney, and he still had a job. In his rush to get out, he chose a fruit from the fruit bowl for breakfast, but in doing so, his eye caught a note left by the bowl. Setting aside his apple, he picked up the note, cursed his failing eyes, and pulled out his reading glasses. As he read it, his body shivered faintly. It was unmarked, and simply read, '_I'm coming._'

"Who's coming?" he mumbled, losing interest and picking his breakfast back up. It was of no importance. Work called and was desperately more important than a piece of paper with unfamiliar writing. With a final call back to Phoenix, Miles left for the District Court Building.


	2. Fate

A/N: Well, I've got this all ready to go, so here's the next bit. Longer, and there's more plot. I'm building blocks for something, I just wish I knew what. xD  


* * *

"…What."

"Hey, pal, it's exactly what I said! EVERYONE knows about it, Mr. Edgeworth! Wherever you've been the last few years, did they not have anything like it?"

Miles was pretty sure he was going to have creases between his eyebrows from the rest of his life and the bridge of his nose would have indents from how hard he was pinching it in distress. As familiar as he was with a certain Detective, there were several things that still caught him off guard every time. The first thing had to be his stupidity. The second had to be…well…him.

Gumshoe stomped a foot, and in unison, the child astride his shoulders bobbed her pointed finger at him. The girl was small and young, and had messy brown hair to rival the mess atop Phoenix's head. She had her own mini-trench coat and a set of hair clips to keep the mess from hanging in her gentle face. The fact a child was in the building didn't surprised Miles at all; it was just so expected in his hectic life that he stopped fretting such things. From Kay Faraday to Pearl Fey to even Miss Trucy Wright--even including himself, at one point in time--young people in the courts just failed to shock him anymore.

Nonetheless, the offspring of Gumshoe and Maggey Byrde ( now Maggey Gumshoe) was not an expected visitor, especially atop her father's broad shoulders. Having only heard second hand from the Detective about his little girl, Clue, Miles was relatively surprised to actually see the little girl here. Was the girl even out of her diapers?

"No, Detective, I am pretty sure there was no 'take your daughter to work day', at least not that I had ever heard of."

"Well, pal, I guess you missed out. Or will always miss out--seeing as you and Mr. Wright--"

Miles intensified the glare he had shifted onto Gumshoe and let the other interrupt himself. Mentioning the relationship Miles had with Phoenix was taboo. It was one of those things that if Miles thought about it too much, it hurt his head. It was better to just accept and never speak about. Not to mention that the idea of having children anyway, even adopting, made him shudder a touch. There was nothing wrong with children, but the idea of diapers and bottles and mess and noise…

Miles shivered and sighed, deciding to just forget about Clue sitting on Gumshoe's shoulders and continuing on with business.

"So, do you actually know anything about the case I have today, Gumshoe? Or are you too busy playing daddy? If I have to flounder alone in that court, I will."

Gumshoe beamed, chuckling a little. His daughter mimicked the action, effectively distracting and unnerving Miles. Gumshoe took this moment to straighten up. "I have you covered, don't worry, Mr. Edgeworth! I triple-checked all of the facts I get to say; not a single loop-hole! Nobody will be able to pick it apart!"

Miles stared at Gumshoe. "Even against the student of a certain former Attorney, Gumshoe? Who is exactly who I am going up against?"

"You're going up against Apollo?" Gumshoe said, blinking. He paled, and Clue tugged on his hair worriedly. Why were they so synced up? Did Clue even have a clue about what was going on? Gumshoe nervously frowned. "Aw, he's got Wright's knack for pointing out stuff that seemed right. Wait, why are you going against Mr. Justice?"

Miles was actually a touch curious of something else, so he ignored the other's questions and asked his own. "Gumshoe. How do you know Apollo Justice?"

"Aw, well, who doesn't know him? The kid's got a knack for nailing fidgety folks. Especially after that case with the older Gavin--the one with the trial-Jurist thing?" Gumshoe recalled, itching at the back of his head--Clue doing the same--and then laughed. "See! I know stuff, pal! What do you think of me now, huh?"

Miles figured this conversation wasn't going to get much further, or be all that effective, and either way he needed a few moments to prepare his evidence and pep-talk his witness following Gumshoe. Knowing Wright, and any attorney who followed in his footsteps, was bound to be a pain in the ass to deal with in court.

As he entered the room, ready to greet his witness (a miss Nikki Nine), he stopped dead and gawked. Nikki glanced over, detaching herself from the taller male she was sucking face on, and laughed openly at Miles. Miles bristled, not being a fan of being laughed at so mockingly, and scowled at the large, blonde intruder. Everything about the young man screamed bouncer, or perhaps bodyguard, and everything seemed to scream 'silent type'. However, as soon as Miles opened his mouth to demand who would do such lude acts such as making out in the lobby room (completely forgetting how very often he and Phoenix had desecrated, inevitably, the exact same lobby in years past), the blonde beamed and waved enthusiastically.

"You gotta be the Prosecutor, right, yo?" the male cried out, holding out his hand for a handshake from a downward angle, stepping forward. Miles stared, utterly unsure whether or not it was a trap, before he reached out his hand--straight, even, perfect. The guy snatched up his hand in his awkward angle and slammed his chest into the other, then looped the arm around his shoulders. "Alright, yo, I'll leave you two be, yeah? Nikki baby, don't let me down. Remember--it's for the band!"

"It's for the band!" Nikki echoed just as loudly, and the two threw out peace signs. After several other various exchanges of hand gestures, Miles cleared his throat and recovered from his shock, turning on the male.

"Excuse me! Who are you? I don't believe I said you could visit with my witness--"

"Aw, dude, don't sweat it, you know?" the giant blonde hair, fussing with his beanie and coat. He grinned. "It's no problem. Her nerves are all gone now, yeah?" He tossed his head back and held out his hands casually, laughing. "I just got her all warmed up." The male vanished from the lobby and left Miles feeling so agitated, he was half-curious if he could pull off a whip as well as Franziska could. Taking it out on Happy the Bouncer seemed all too pleasant an idea. His chest still hurt from their 'man-bump'.

Nikki, a young lady with a fierce rocker style, fiddled with the ridiculous amount of rings on her fingers. As soon as the man from before was gone, she seemed positively apathetic.

Miles' case was over an oddly tangled murder. It revolved around a young college band called Violent Peace. The front man, Tommy had been playing by himself in the garage to the small home that Violent Peace rented and lived together in, when he was shot dead. Nikki Nine, Miles' witness, had been the one to see part of the crime and call in the murder. The defendant, Freddie Five, was said to have been feverishly jealous of Tommy's fronting, singing position in the band, and had--as Nikki had put it-- 'thrown away the virtue of being a member of Violent Peace and shot Tommy in the back.'. On the surface, the case seemed relatively easy and surface deep, but apparently, from the evidence gathered, there was more to it than just that.

"Who was that young man?" Miles asked sharply, having not quite recovered from getting flustered.

"Oh, him?" Nikki stated dispassionately. "That's Kevin Seven. He's my boyfriend, and drummer for Violent Peace."

"What was he doing here? You know that he wasn't allowed--"

"What?" she asked, taking out her earphones, fiddling with her MP3 Player. Miles stared. Hadn't he dealt with enough obnoxiously obnoxious witnesses and clients over the years? Hell, just being friends with half of them had to give him karma points! So why did he have to keep dealing with people like this? It just wasn't fair--but then again, fair _was_ in the fall…

"Looks like another lulu," Phoenix sighed.

Wait…what?

Miles whipped around, looked at the man leaning against the door to the Lobby. What was with all of these people stepping on etiquette--let alone Phoenix!

"How in the hell did you pry yourself out of bed? And get here almost as soon as I did?"

"Oh, well, like, two minutes after you left, Trucy came over!" Phoenix announced happily. "She said it was 'take your daughter to work day'. So…." He held out his arms. "Here I am!" Beaming he itched at his beanie. "Did you miss me? It's been so long."

"Phoenix, it's been perhaps a half an hour. _If that_."

Miles did not have the time for this. After sharing a few words with his witness again, he re-checked his watch, before he moved with Phoenix--who insisted on dogging him to the courtroom--to the elevator. Elevators remained to be one of Miles' least favorite things in the entire world, but time demanded that they take one. As they stepped into one together, Phoenix's fingers found Miles' free hand, and the other gave Miles a too-wise smile.

"I know how we can fill up the 60 second ride."

"No."

"Aw, please?"

"No."

"Bu--"

"NO."

Phoenix pouted, but sighed. "Alright, fine," he said in submission, watching the door close. Miles watched him and tried to ignore the feeling his stomach got from moving in an elevator. And the pressing stress from being an elevator--ignoring that was nice too.

Fate was a cruel mistress.

There was a loud, creaking sort of rumble. Phoenix and Miles instantly were on edge--but it was the violent, brief shaking following the rumble that was what pushed Miles over the edge. Whatever the actual outcome was, Miles passed out cold on the spot. Inside of an elevator, there was little doubt he would be nervous. Inside of an elevator…during an earthquake? And Phoenix wondered why Miles wanted to get the hell out of California and live some place a little less shaky…

The earthquake was brief, and as Miles blinked straight into a faint, Phoenix caught him. Before Miles lost all of his senses, he could see the lights flicker and hear the painful grind of the elevator jamming up--and then the power to die. With that darkness came Miles' darkness…and his world faded.


End file.
